An Indian historian. Prof. Athar Ali was associated with Aligarh Muslim University. Prof. Ali authored The Mughal nobility under Aurangzeb (1966) and The apparatus of Empire: Awards of ranks, offices and titles to the Mughal nobility, 1574-1658 (1985). Athar, in his books, allowed the facts to interpret themselves, which put a fabrication to the imperialist legacy of inventing a Hindu versus Muslim history of India.